


Learning Process

by chivalrousAmour



Series: bos universe [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Recovery from child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-08-05 21:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 16,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16375478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chivalrousAmour/pseuds/chivalrousAmour
Summary: A series of Corrin learning about the world, families, and skills a child probably shouldn't know, as taught by her childhood friend's family and some Shepards of varying levels of enthusiasm.





	1. Corrin and Houses

**Author's Note:**

> i really want to write the next chapter of bos but this idea was eating at me. take it.

"The woman sayin' she's her mom is being interrogated right now. Her identity, blood tests, whether she knew anything about her husband's activities, so she's staying with us for a while," Sully explained.

"Alright. Let's do our best," Stahl agreed, before going to check on the kids.

He found Corrin, kneeling on the grass with her hands clasped over her eyes. Silas was fretting over her, while Kjelle looked impatient.

"You aren't supposed to look directly at the sun," Kjelle stated bluntly. 

"But I never saw it before..." Corrin whimpered, and Stahl suddenly realized that they were going to have to teach Corrin many, many things.

* * *

 

Corrin had many questions when they showed her around their home. Something that would have taken minutes for any other guest wound up being an endeavor that took all day, since, well...

"What's this?" Corrin asked.

"You mean the drawer?" Sully replied, almost stunned by this child's lack of knowledge. "It's... a drawer. You keep stuff inside it."

Corrin blinked, then stared at the kitchen drawer like she expected it to transform in front of her eyes. She kept looking at every angle, until Sully just pulled it open.

Corrin gasped, and her eyes lit up.

They quickly learned that the idea of even showing Corrin the basement was out of the question. She burst into tears the moment she saw the stairs downstairs. She tearfully asked if she had done something wrong. It took a very long time for the family to reassure her that she hadn't and that she wouldn't go down there if she didn't want to. It was a relief when some of her innocent wonder and curiosity came back into her eyes.

And then they tried to show her the bathroom. 

"Have you... never seen a bathtub before?" Kjelle managed. "Do you know how to take a shower?"

"I've never seen something like this!" Corrin replied excitedly, folded over the edge of the bathtub and reaching inside with wide arms. It was like she was a second away from diving in facefirst. "But I know how to take a shower!"

Kjelle breathed out a sigh of relief as she scooped Corrin out so she wouldn't hurt herself.

Hours later, it would turn out that she did not, in fact, know how to use their shower. She managed to figure out the knob and temperature just fine, she just didn't recognize their shampoo and soap bottles. Sully had to rinse the soap out of her hair, all while Corrin asked how they managed to make the showerhead move.

The family had planned on showing her the upper levels, then let her play around with the kids until they called them all down for dinner, but then they realized a problem.

"Mom, Dad, Corrin can't go down the stairs!" Silas screamed.

"What?!"

Stahl emerged from the kitchen, still wearing his apron, to see what they meant.

He saw that Kjelle was slowly demonstrating to Corrin how to go down the stairs, while Silas held Corrin's hand.

But, oddly enough, Corrin didn't seem scared.

She was watching Kjelle with a shining intensity in her red eyes, mimicking the older girl's words under her breath. 

When Kjelle reached the bottom, Corrin squeezed Silas' hand. He nodded, and Corrin slowly took a step down. Then another, then another, her steps gradually getting more fluid and natural as she went. 

Stahl breathed out a sigh of relief when the two children have made it down the steps. 

Sully popped her head out from the kitchen, a bit irritated that she had prepared the table only to wait so long, but sees her husband patting both Corrin and Silas on the head. He congratulated Corrin, then thanked Kjelle and Silas for helping her and asked them to take care of her as long as she was in their care.

Sully felt a small smile come on her face, before demanding that they all eat before Stahl's cooking gets cold.

By the end of the week, Corrin is able to walk down the stairs without Silas holding her hand.


	2. Corrin and Windows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im writing these really fast? im at school right now but this small thing is just. whooooooosh. thats how much i like the idea of corrin being able to learn things. whoooooooooooooosh

Corrin was hiding behind the couch. Every so often, she would peek out and glance at something, until Sully sighed and put her paperwork down on the coffee table.

"What're you doing, kid?" Sully asked.

Corrin pointed.

"Use your words, Corrin," Stahl reminded her from the spot besides Sully. 

"Window," the girl said, pointing at it again.

Sully blinked.

"Corrin. That's a TV."

Corrin's expression morphed into confusion.

Sully stood and guided her away from the TV.

"This is a window," Sully said, knocking on the glass. "You can see outside through it. That," she pointed at the TV, "is a television. You see moving pictures through it."

"Moving... pictures?"

"Stahl, where's the damn remote?"

"Isn't it under the coffee table?"

Sully checked.

"Not here."

"Check the dinner table."

"No, get up."

"I'm not sitting on it, Sully."

"Get up."

Stahl got up, and Sully checked. 

It wasn't directly under Stahl's butt, so Sully checked between the cushions. 

After a few seconds, Sully found it on the floor next to the couch. She got Corrin to sit on the couch and switched the TV on.

Corrin jumped at the sound of a voice, then watched with wonder as a mouse was chased around by a cat with strange tactics.

"That's a cartoon. It's full of jokes that kids like," Stahl explained, and Corrin nodded.

Sully switched the channel.

"This is the sports channel. They... what sport is this?"

"Cricket," Sully stated. "Don't even think of asking me how it works, it would take an hour."

"..."

"Corrin, an hour is sixty minutes."

"...?"

"Do you need the clock again?"

"Stahl, don't let her watch the clock for an hour," Sully scolded. "Once was enough."

"Sorry."

Corrin looked at the remote, and Sully held it up so she could see it.

"Wanna try?"

Corrin nodded.

"Point it at the TV and press a..." Sully belatedly realized that Corrin was lost just looking at the buttons. 

"Red one turns it on and off," Stahl explained. "The numbers are for deciding what you want to watch. The up and down arrows on the left are for making it louder and quieter, and the up and down arrows on the right are for changing the channel one by one. Those are the basics."

Corrin hesitantly pressed a button. A woman appeared on the screen and showed how a knife could slice and dice anything.

It took a few seconds for the couple to realize that the girl was actually genuinely watching the infomercial.

"Try again," Sully instructed. "Channels are usually two or three numbers long."

Corrin tried again, but then saw that it did nothing immediate. She pressed the button three times again, harder this time, until Stahl managed to get her to be patient, but it was too late. 

A ghost suddenly screamed at the screen, and Stahl almost jumped off the couch.

Corrin stared at him in confusion, then looked to Sully for an answer. 

"It's a horror movie. Supposed to be scary, with ghosts and stuff."

"Why are there ghosts?"

"People find 'em scary."

"Why?"

"Good question. Stahl, you mind answering?"

"It's not really the _ghost_ ," he attempted. "It's... the atmosphere. The creepiness of being in a place like a haunted house, or a dark forest... you're not supposed to be there and you feel like something creepy will jump at you, so horror movies kinda... play with that?"

"Why are they somewhere they're not supposed to be?" Corrin asked.

"Y'know, I'm not too sure," Sully said. "Try asking Silas."

"Okay. Where is Silas?"

"Outside," Sully answered.

As expected, the moment they let Corrin head into the backyard, she was so thrilled by the feeling of the wind on her skin and sun on her face that she forgot all about her question. Silas had fun rolling around in the grass with her, and the pair of police went back to work.


	3. Corrin and Food

"Hey, Corrin," Sully called out, causing the two children to stop in their game. "Come here for a second?"

"Okay!" Corrin smiled at Silas, then ran over to the backyard's door. 

"When you ate food with your dad, what was it like?"

"Ummm, it was... a round bit of meat, and some cheese and crackers, and some broccoli and carrots," Corrin recalled. "My dad worked hard to make it for me, so I didn't complain even if I got tired of the taste."

"Alright, thanks," Sully said, patting her on the head. "Have fun saving the princess, you two."

"Corrin _is_  the princess!" Silas protested.

"Yeah, and I'm helping save the world!"  Corrin piped up.

Sully smiled at that.

Then she shut the door between them and cursed loudly.

"Something wrong?" Stahl asked, not even looking up from his newspaper and coffee combo.

"That _asshole_...! We searched the house, and we found a year's worth of instant lunches. There was a shitton of them in the trash, too," Sully explained with a grimace. "The kid might not have had a proper meal her entire life."

* * *

"Dad told me to try and figure out what kind of food you like," Silas admitted, conveniently leaving out the part where he had been asked to try to be discreet.

"I like the thing Miss Sully puts butter on!" Corrin answered cheerfully.

"You mean, toast?"

"Oh, oh, oh, and I like the stuff you make when it's dark!"

"Dinner?"

Corrin nodded.

"But I haven't ever had much, so... I don't really know what kinds of foods there are or if I like them or not."

Silas looked flabbergasted.

"Have you ever had candy?!" He asked in a rush.

Corrin blinked.

"What's that?"

Silas didn't answer. He just dragged her to his room. She watched as he pulled a bag out from under his bed, a stash of Halloween candy he had saved up.

"These are my favourites," he said as he deposited a pair of chocolates in black wrappers in her hands, "but the caramel ones are good too. And I like the gumdrops, but the sugar can stick on your tongue. And the m- Corrin, don't eat with the wrapper still on! Take it off!"

"Silas, don't eat in your room," Kjelle called out from her own room. 

"I'm not eating in my room!"

"Don't let Corrin eat in your room either!"

"But Dad said to let her eat food!"

A very loud sigh came from Kjelle's room.

And then she came over and scooped them both up. As if she were carrying feathers, she easily got them downstairs, even when Corrin was freaking out over maybe dropping some of Silas' gifts and Silas was yelling and protesting and squirming around.

She was completely silent as she did her strange ritual, culminating in a odd brownish mixture in a glass that Silas took one look at before saying, "gross."

"Drink this," Kjelle instructed.

Corrin nodded, then did her best to eat the candy and drink the protein shake.

She wound up throwing up on the kitchen floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> according to my friend who knows biology, corrin shouldnt be alive if she ate nothing but lunchables for seven years. ive elected to pretend lunchables are healthier than they really are to ignore this


	4. Corrin and Doctors

The parents blamed themselves for not noticing sooner, but in reality, it was very easy to miss.

Her frequent naps could be explained away as her still not being entirey familiar with the passage of time and needing to adjust her erratic sleep schedule. Her being sometimes unable to keep up with Kjelle and Silas could be just that Silas and Kjelle were much more active than the average child their age. Her clumsy steps, her inability to lift large objects, that could have been because she was just never actually required to run or lift anything larger than a children's book in her father's basement.

Stahl and Sully didn't realize there was something wrong with how small the girl was before.

They brought her into a doctor the moment they thought something was wrong.

There was just one teeny-tiny, itty-bitty problem.

"Corrin, he's not gonna hurt you. He just needs to see if you're okay, okay?" Stahl attempted patiently, trying to coax Corrin out from behind Silas.

His patience was wearing a bit thin, though.

Mostly because it took an hour to get her out of the car. She had asked so many questions about the car and its workings and no one knew how to answer.

Sully sighed, before just scooping Corrin up and depositing her in front of Libra. Libra nodded thankfully.

"It's alright. I won't hurt you, okay?" Libra smiled reassuringly, kneeling so he was at Corrin's eye level.

Corrin shook, and her caretakers still couldn't see how she could be so energetic and happy at their home, yet be anxious and nervous the moment she met someone new.

Corrin reached out for Silas once again, and he took her hand. Libra, possibly thinking that this was the best he would ever get, asked the two of them to sit together on the examination bed. 

Through trial and error, Libra determined that Corrin was willing to do something if Silas had done it first. It was through this that he managed to get Corrin through most standardized tests, but then the question of vaccines came up.

Silas was very, very unhappy with the idea that his best friend would go through the horror of having to get a needle in her.

Corrin was rather curious about it, of course. Sully feared that she might have asked to have multiple vaccinations done at once so she could learn what it felt like. 

But, soon, the examination came to an end. Corrin and Silas were allowed to play with a pair of dolls in the waiting room as Libra talked to the parents.

"It's good that your kids are there with her," he said, "try and encourage them to play together. Nothing too strenuous for now, she just needs to build up her endurance. I'll prescribe some vitamins for her to take daily."

"We owe ya, Libra," Sully replied gratefully as Libra wrote up the prescription.

"It's my pleasure." Libra answered with a gentle smile, but hesitation hit him, and he became pensive. "However..."

"However...?" Stahl echoed anxiously.

"It would be best if you tried to keep her ears hidden. I don't want to see so innocent a child joining Nowi so soon."

A gloomy air settled into the room, all of them remembering the girl they had worked to protect from the Grimleal during the war, only for her to be confined to a church thereafter.

"We'll take care of them," Sully swore, more to herself than to the other two.

Stahl nodded, then turned to Libra with a determined grin.

"What kind of Shepherd would we be if we didn't take care of the sheep?"

Sully and Libra stared at him for a moment, and his smile faltered.

"S-sheep. You know... because her hair is... white..."

Sully cracked up, snickering as she slapped her husband's shoulder affectionately.

"Sure. Let's go with that."

Stahl's flustered protests even pulled a chuckle out of the ever-so-dignified Libra, and Stahl stomped out to bring Silas and Corrin to the car.

He found Gaius giving the kids candy.

"Gaius," the priest chided gently as he stepped out into the waiting room. "You should have told me you were visit— did you steal that from the kitchen?"

"......nnnnnnnope?"

_"Gaius."_

"Oh, Padre, do you hear that? It's the sound of biscuits and cupcakes calling me elsewhere! Call me if you require my sugary services!"

"You don't have a phone," Libra pointed out, right before Gaius disappeared through their window, giant candy bag and all. "...and he's gone."

"Will we meet Uncle Gaius again?" Corrin asked.

Sully's stunned look of disbelief was lost on her.

 


	5. Corrin and Reading

"Corrin," Sully started off slowly, mouth twitching into what could be called a vague caricature of a smile, "do you know how to read?"

"Yes!"

"But... you can't read this," Sully said, gesturing at the children's comic book that Silas had been attempting to share with his best friend.

"I can't," Corrin admitted. "It's got new words."

"Okay, so... what _can_  you read?" Sully asked.

Corrin's response was to walk to the study where Sully and Stahl kept various mementos, like the crest of their police department, gifts from friends, and photo albums they liked to go through when the kids were out.

Corrin pulled out a book Libra had sent them for their marriage, a codex of Naga's divine decrees or something. She skipped right over the modern translations and went straight to the section where the text, in all its ancient glory, sat on the page.

" _'As the world laid, bare and foresaken, so the Divine Dragons emerged from their realm and gave the Earth life and beauty. Bountiful grace in each and every—'"_

* * *

 

"So, uh, Miriel," Sully said into the phone. "Random question. Old religious texts were written in Altean, right?"

"It depends on the time period, location, and specific religion. Centuries-old texts regarding the worship of Naga in this region is typically written in Altean, yes."

"So. It's a dead language, right?"

"The language fell out of favour a hundred years after the fall of the Altean empire, though some terms survive to be modern terminology."

"Alright, so, let's say that there was this kid who only knew how to read Altean, and we were to try to teach her how to read Nohrian or Hoshidan..."

"It would be a fascinating process," Miriel stated, and Sully suddenly felt like she had accidentally donated her child to science. "Typically, one would attempt to learn Altean based off what they know from their mother languages. To reverse the dynamic, to teach a modern language using a dead tongue...?"

"...y'know what, I'll just ask Libra," Sully decided, before going to check on how Stahl was managing with just the alphabet.

"You... you can _do that?!"_  Corrin's exhilarated voice reached Sully's ears before Sully even opened the door.

"U-uh, yeah, I can write. Why is that so surprising to you, Corrin?"

"Because! Writing is what you do to make books! Papa said that the books we had were written by old, wise people, so I thought you had to be a hundred years old to learn to make a book!"

Sully had the sudden feeling that this would be a lot harder than it seemed.


	6. Corrin and Big Sisters

"Come on, come on, come on!" Silas urged his best friend, holding onto her hand as he ran. "We might miss it!"

"Silas...!" Corrin exclaimed in a breathless voice. 

Kjelle sighed. Even if she was still considered a kid by the adults, she was still old enough to look down on the two as childish. 

A seven-year age difference would do that to most.

"We can't miss the bus, or else we'll have to wait forever!" Silas told them.

"Then you should have decided to go sooner," Kjelle replied curtly.

"But I _just_  got my allowance!" Silas shot back. "I couldn't pay for a toy sooner!"

"And you couldn't wait until tomorrow..."

"No!"

And so, Kjelle sighed and scooped up the two children, holding them under her arms as she ran.

Somehow, they actually managed to get to the bus stop in time. 

Corrin was nervous, but Silas held her hand and proudly paid for the bus fare.

Corrin knew a little of the concept of money, though she couldn't name any coins or how much they were worth. She just knew that people gave them to get other things. So she wasn't concerned with asking much about it. 

Instead, she anxiously held onto Silas' hand as they tried to find seats. 

Every time they brought her outside, Corrin had seen more people than she had ever imagined possible in one place. Not just that, but more noise, more movement, more _sensation_  than she had ever experienced before. 

It was something that fascinated her, exhilarated her, excited her, but most of all, she felt _doubt_  looming over her, a whisper in her ears that she was defying her Papa's wishes by experiencing it before she earned it.

Guliping, Corrin toyed with her hair.

Silas was trying to comfort her, talking about all the things they could see and play with to be found so she wasn't nervous finding a place to sit. He didn't see the action, and Kjelle was looking for a seat.

It was because they didn't see her that they were also taken off guard by the sudden stillness of the other passengers.

"Here, you can take our seats," one of three boys said, his friends standing up without another word. 

"Thank you!" Silas exclaimed excitedly, sitting down with Corrin. Corrin nodded, unable to find her voice when she felt the trio was staring at her.

Kjelle gave the three a wary glare, before sitting next to the albino. The bus began to move.

Kjelle wasn't quite old enough to have taken Frederick's training, but she knew the basics of caution in battle. She knew how to observe the behaviour of people and assess who was hostile and who wasn't. 

Her assessment told her that the passengers around her were dangerous.

Corrin jumped at the sight of a camera flash, then another, until she was shaking in her seat. Her breath quickened, and Kjelle knew that, while the others were chattering excitedly about how lucky they were to share a bus with a daughter of Naga, the feeling was less than mutual.

Silas held her close, while Kjelle almost _roared_  at the crowd. 

 _"Enough!_  You're making her uncomfortable!" Kjelle glared.

One woman began to tearfully beg for Naga's forgiveness. Phones were quickly deposited into pockets, but the crowd could not just ignore an incarnation of the goddess.

So, slowly, carefully, signalling his approach in advance, one man pushed his way through the others to kneel before Corrin. His head was bowed and he held onto the armrest of her seat to keep himself steady.

He introduced himself quickly, before talking about his soon-to-be born daughter, and how _happy_  he was to be a father, how much he wanted his child to grow up safe and happy. He _begged_  for Corrin's blessing, calling her a Daughter of Dragons, saying that only she could do this for him.

"You'll get in our way when we leave," Kjelle growled, glaring at him. 

"A-ah, of course, you must be going to the temple," the man said, disappointment in his tone.

"What good children, delivering a daughter of the gods back to her home like that," one woman whispered to her companion.

"Thank the gods! The accursed Grimleal must truly be gone if such devoted children live!"

"Wait," Corrin whispered, and the ambient chatter stopped.

She looked up at the would-be father, and said, "you... seem like you would be a good father," her breath hitched, because her eyes went from his face to all the eyes on her, but—

"I know your daughter will be happy," Corrin concluded.

The man thanked her in the most reverent tone possible, bursting into tears of joy before her.

Thankfully, Kjelle was able to convince him to go back to his seat.

Corrin wore a small smile, and Silas was excitedly talking to her about how nice that was.

Kjelle let out a soft sigh of relief, seeing that Corrin was so engrossed in her conversation that she ignored the whispers of her divine kindness and pure heart.

And then another man burst from the crowd, falling to his knees before Corrin and tearfully grasping her hand.

Kjelle was so stunned that she didn't react for a second, and that was all the time it took for him to begin talking.

"Forgive me!" He pleaded. "I've- I've— I've killed him, my husband, he was— he _betrayed me_ , with another, he said he _loved_ me, but another—!"

Corrin began to tremble. He kept talking about his anger, his jealousy, the feeling of blood on his skin, until—

"Stop it!" Silas ordered angrily. 

 _"Let go of her!"_ Kjelle screamed, forcibly ripping his hands away from Corrin.

He fought back, shrieking that he would not let his fated chance of redemption be taken away so easily. 

He struck Kjelle in the face, and Corrin began to cry.

"C-Corrin!" Silas managed, hugging the smaller girl so she could calm down.

But the crowd would not be calmed.

Hands reached out for the condemned criminal, a struggle breaking out on the moving bus.

"The Daughter of Dragons rejected him!"

 _"Isn't Naga supposed to forgive all?!"_  He demanded.

"Not even the gods can forgive him!"

_"How can you refuse me, when the dragons love all?!"_

"Demon!"

_"Please!"_

"Puppet of darkness!" 

_"Forgive me!"_

"Monster!"

He was slammed against the opposite window, held back by a trio of teenage boys.

"Please stop crying," a woman asked of Corrin, "please, I'll pray for weeks, please don't cry—"

"An offering, h-here, it's my savings—"

 _"BACK OFF!"_  Kjelle roared as the bus came to a stop next to a small alleyway, the bus driver coming over to demand order.

Kjelle furiously drove back the crowd, then grabbed the sobbing Corrin and frantic Silas. No one could stop her as she stomped off the bus.

As they got further and further, Kjelle's steps became quieter and quieter, her grip shifting so that the two children were sitting on her arms. Silas' cheek was pressed against Kjelle's neck, and he said nothing as Corrin continued to cry.

"I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Corrin whimpered into Kjelle's shoulder. "I... I ruined this. For everyone. I'm sorry I made you... I'm sorry I've been bad..."

"That's not true!" Silas protested. "It wasn't your fault, Corrin!"

"Corrin," Kjelle said simply, not an ounce of anger in her voice, "do you know what big sisters do?"

Corrin shook her head, and, unseen to the two, she smiled slightly.

"They protect the ones that come after them," Kjelle said gently. "You don't have to apologize for anything. It's my duty and honour to serve as my little siblings' shield."

Corrin quieted down after that, and the toy store they entered had tissues to dry her tears. 

A smile came on Corrin's face when Silas excitedly brought her around, showing her all the wonderful toys she had never seen before.

Then she gasped, because with the allowance Silas had been saving up and cherishing, he had bought her a gift.

A black headband that she had found more appealing than dolls and sets of toys she didn't fully understand.

"I've got a ton of fun stuff at home," Silas told her as he placed the headband on her head, "but you don't. That's why I wanted to get you something special!"

Kjelle kept her back turned as she called their parents to pick them up.

Her little siblings didn't need to know that she knew how to smile, after all.

 


	7. Corrin and Dragons

"You don't deserve my forgiveness," a cold voice declared.

"W-wait! You—" The woman kneeling before her throne made a move to beg, but Nowi silenced her by clanging her bracelet against her armrest.

"I listened to your story. You expect me to forgive a murderer?" Nowi's voice was tired. Of course it was. She had seen far too many people, heard of far too many crimes to possibly pity a single person. 

"But—!"

"You people insist on making me play god," Nowi told her, twirling a lock of hair about her finger, "so I'm just delivering judgement, just as I'm asked."

"How can you possibly be an incarnation of the goddess...?!" The woman sobbed.

"Funny. I wonder that myself. But then again, I've seen so many filthy, cowardly, cruel, _horrible_  people come begging for their salvation before me... maybe even Naga herself would have given up by now," Nowi mused. "Not that it matters."

The woman froze as the green-haired woman stood.

"I've heard enough out of you," Nowi decided. "Get out of my sight."

Sobs echoed around the great temple as the guards came to take the sinner away. Nowi watched with impassive eyes, already beginning to forget the encounter. On its own, it would be horrible, but she had been forced to become a goddess in the eyes of the people the very day the war ended. There was only so much pity she could have when she had been doing it for, what, ten years? Twenty?

Nowi wouldn't know. Though her body grew, though time passed for the people she knew, her own surroundings never changed much. She had her room to retire to, her throne, her guards, her endless line of sinners, and the occasional few who asked for blessings instead. The faces changed, but never the contents.

It was like her life had frozen in a single moment. Everyone around her changed and grew, yet she was left trapped in a never-ending time.

"Your Holiness," a guard, a woman her age whom she felt much more comfortable with than any of the other guards, knelt before her, and she straightened up a bit in her seat, "guests for you."

"Good guests, or bad guests?" She asked.

The guard grinned.

"If they were the kind you didn't want, I would have found a way to turn them away at the door."

A bright smile came on Nowi's face.

"You mean...?!"

"I welcome the celebrated war heroes and defenders of justice, Sully and Stahl McMaster-Knightley, and their children," the guard introduced the family with a bow.

"Really, you don't have to do that _every_ time..." Stahl said with an awkward chuckle.

"Why the hell not? Feels damn good to get our due."

Stahl sighed. Nowi laughed, getting up from her ominous throne to hug the couple.

"I missed you all _sooooo_ much!" Nowi exclaimed in a childish tone. "Why don't you visit me more?!"

"Sorry, kid," Sully said, patting Nowi on the head. Even though Nowi was older, she was still much shorter than either of the two Shepherds. "You know how it is. Work, raising a family, stuff like that."

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again!" Nowi turned towards the kids. "Silas, Kjelle, and—"

She paused.

"You got another one?" Nowi noted, observing the albino hiding behind the couple's grey-haired child.

"That's Corrin," Kjelle stated. "She's not shy. She's just terrified of you."

"What?!"

"She's scared of all strangers, Auntie Nowi," Silas told her, patting Nowi so she wouldn't be upset. "There there."

Nowi felt a tender smile come on her face as she regarded the innocent children.

"Now, now. I'm not gonna gobble you up," she said, kneeling so she was face to face with Corrin. Red eyes stared at her, apprehension and caution in the lights and shadows of them. "I'm your mom and dad's friend! I'm Nowi, and it's nice to meet you!"

She smiled at the girl.

Corrin's eyes drifted over her, before settling on her ears.

"You're... like me."

Nowi blinked her eyes open, expression confused.

"You must have been stuck inside for a long, long time," Corrin said, a sorrowful understanding in her eyes.

Nowi had no idea how to react, and frankly, none of the people around them did either. Sully and Stahl were watching intently, ready to interfere the moment it seemed their child would do something to offend Nowi, Kjelle was looking away, Silas squeezed Corrin's hand, and the guard simply went to her post by the doors.

"...I have," Nowi confirmed. "I've been here for a very long time."

"You're lucky to have people visiting you so you don't get lonely," Corrin noted. 

"...yeah. Yeah, I am," Nowi agreed.

"...Kjelle just left," Stahl realized.

"We'll just leave you to it then, gotta find our kid and all that. C'mon, Silas."

"H-huh? Okay!" Silas looked to Corrin, who signalled that she would be okay on her own.

The guard nodded to Nowi as the others left, then went to the doors herself.

"Corrin," Nowi started off with a smile, "would you like to do anything with your Auntie Nowi? We can play tag, or with dolls, or eat anything you'd like. It's my treat."

"Miss Sully and Mister Stahl said I gotta be careful with playing too much because I get tired fast," Corrin answered.

"Huh? You... call your parents by their names?"

"I'm not their kid. They're taking care of me for now," Corrin explained. "My Papa has to go somewhere, so they're making sure I'm okay."

"Your Papa?"

"Yeah. He kept me inside because I'm just like you. You know, with the ears? He said I was a reincarnation of Robin, and that I'm a dragon too! I'm just the bad kind, and I have to be protected and be really good, so I don't become a bad, bad person. Is that why you're here?"

Nowi's smile dropped off her face and some emotion she hadn't felt in a long time began to writhe in her chest.

"No, Corrin," Nowi began, a sad smile on her face, "I'm here because they think I'm a good dragon. They want good dragons so much, they won't let one leave when they find one."

"Huh? But, then...?"

"No matter what the reason, I'm still trapped," Nowi told the young girl, "but you aren't. Not anymore."

Corrin stared up at Nowi in confusion when she felt the hand on her head.

"You aren't trapped," Nowi repeated, unable to stop a tear from rolling down her cheek, "so please. Please live out your life, as normally and happily as you can."

Corrin didn't quite understand, but she agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i forgot to mention that i actually drew this in scribbles


	8. Corrin and Shooting Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is mostly because i had no idea where corrin would sleep at first. i thought she might go on the couch but also, they like her too much to make her sleep on the couch for a few months. so i figured that silas would say that he could share everything with his best friend, even his bed

Nighttime amazed Corrin.

It wasn't like the complete darkness in her room whenever she turned out the lights. Even if she couldn't see, everything was exactly where it was when the lights were on, and the room itself would never change. Blind or not, Corrin had memorized the number of steps needed to traverse the basement in every possible way, and nothing changed in the dark.

Not in her new home. 

The first time Corrin saw the sunset, she simply sat on the family's porch, watching the colours change for what seemed like the longest time Corrin ever did anything and far too short at the same time. 

Words couldn't express Corrin's wonder when the sky began to darken, when the moon in the sky began to glow, when the streetlights began to burn amber, when the world seemed to be painted in darker tones and a slight silver shine.

Corrin did try to sleep at night when she was asked. But she usually woke up when the moon was at its highest, long before Silas woke up beside her and began to excitedly talk about the day ahead of them.

So she didn't disturb anyone, Corrin usually took to climbing out of Silas' bed, careful not to wake him. Opening the door would make too much noise, opening a light to read would rouse him (and she still couldn't read his comics anyways), so instead, Corrin went over to his window and began to watch the town at night.

She made games of spotting the most stars, tried to identify the colours of the neighbours' houses by what she saw in the darkness. On overcast nights, Corrin watched the clouds and how sometimes, they would obscure the moonlight. When it rained, she would listen to the sound, huddled up in Silas' curtains. He had found her like that in the morning, sometimes, fast asleep.

But, that night, a gasp burst from Corrin's lips as she spotted a star's light moving across the sky. 

She pulled herself closer to the windowsill, trying to see if there were more, if she could see where it had fallen, no, she just wanted to see _more_ , when—

"Corrin...?" Silas mumbled from the bed. "You're awake?"

"S-sorry!" Corrin hissed, knowing that Silas did all his sleeping in one sitting and would be very tired if disturbed. 

"No problem," Silas returned, yawning, then making his way to join her. He wrapped himself in the curtains next to her, then asked, "what are you looking at?"

"A star just fell!" Corrin exclaimed excitedly, then wincing when Silas shushed her. Her volume halved, but not her enthusiasm, she continued, "it was over there!"

"A shooting star!" Silas whispered eagerly. "What did you wish for?"

"Huh?"

"Shooting stars are _magic,"_  Silas explained with an innocent conviction. "You gotta make a wish on them when you see them, and they'll come true! It's magic!"

"I didn't know...! Will I lose my wish...?"

"You gotta make it, fast!"

"Then... I want..."

Corrin thought about it hard.

Her first thought was to be reunited with her Papa. She missed him.

But... truth be told, when she thought of going back into that one room, when her world had grown by leaps and bounds in the days she spent in the McMaster-Knightley home... when she thought of saying goodbye to Miss Sully, Mister Stahl, Kjelle, to Silas... to all the people they introduced her to... and of the words she told Auntie Nowi, even if she didn't quite fully understand them yet....

"I want," Corrin said decisively, "to be able to be with this happy family forever."

Silas stared at her, and Corrin began to feel self-conscious.

"Was that okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," Silas answered with a smile. "I just thought that it was a dumb wish."

"Huh?!"

"I mean, you're already part of the family. You don't really need a wish to stay with us," Silas informed her casually, "I would have asked for new skates or something. Or candy."

Corrin let out a small laugh and a bright smile.

The next morning, Stahl found Silas and Corrin asleep, leaning on each other while huddled in the curtains.

He smiled, then tucked them both back into bed.

They woke up hugging each other.


	9. Corrin and Locks

Corrin had a very one-track mind, they learned after the first hour of her staring at the doorknob.

"Corrin, I told you," Stahl tried patiently, for the thirty-sixth time, "you turn the key and it won't open, you turn the key in it again, and it opens."

"But _how_?" Corrin asked, for the thirty-seventh time, "and why do keys look like that?" 

"I-I don't really know, but I called my friend here. He can explain—"

"Yo," Gaius greeted, climbing in through the nearest window. "Heard you wanted to learn something sweet, didn't ya, kid?"

He ruffled Corrin's hair, and Corrin's eyes sparkled. 

"Uncle Gaius!"

Stahl tried not to think too hard about what that would mean for Corrin in the future. Or for him, if his wife found out that he had let Gaius be a _'bad influence'_ again.

Unfortunately, he had gotten an emergency call from the station around then, and had to leave them alone. Because he, for whatever reason, trusted Gaius around a child.

He would learn how much of a mistake that was a week later, when Sully was carrying groceries with both arms and he had forgotten where he had left the keys.

Corrin would smile and reassure them it would be alright if they let her help. They assumed she would try to carry some groceries to ensure that Sully would be able to look for the keys too.

Instead, she would pull out something from the pocket of her dress, the same ones that Gaius had decided to add one day. 

Sully's scream of Gaius' name as Corrin picked the lock to their front door would be so loud, the bald, shirtless guy with the weird eyebrows next door would question if everything was okay.


	10. Corrin and Drawing

"We want to teach you how to write," Stahl started off, "but you really don't have the... dexterity, I think the word is? ...for writing. So, while we figure out how to break down the alphabet for you, you can draw with Silas. We got a new pack of crayons for this."

Corrin blinked, then looked to Silas, who proudly displayed a bunch of papers and crayons.

"Alright, kids, do your best," Stahl said with a smile, patting both of them on the head. He then walked over to Sully, who was quietly cursing some ancient Altean books while Libra was on the phone with her.

Silas pulled Corrin into his room just as Sully started screaming over how Altean didn't have any uppercase or lowercase letters and how it would be such a pain to explain it to Corrin.

"Silas, what's drawing?" Corrin asked as Silas prepared for the best drawing session ever. His preparations consisted of putting papers on the floor and pulling out the crayons.

Silas thought about it for a long while, then brightened up when he got the idea.

"You know how, when you're reading, you use the words to imagine pictures? It's like that, except I'm putting the picture _on_  the paper. No words!"

Corrin gasped, then nodded with a smile.

"That makes so much sense! Silas, you're amazing!"

Silas laughed and thanked her for the praise. He kinda wanted to show off his drawings, but first he had to show her _all_  his crayons. And tell her which ones were the best to use.

It was then that they encountered a roadblock. Corrin had never held a writing implement before and thus was completely unfamiliar with how to do it.

It took many examples for her to grasp the idea, but the one that wound up working was telling her that it was kind of like holding a fork. Which kind of made it look like Corrin was trying to stab the paper, but it kind of worked so it was fine.

Then, Silas had to stop her from _actually_  stabbing a hole in the paper. She had no idea how much force she was _supposed_  to apply, and almost splattered Cerulean Aqua onto the page. Or through it, it was hard to tell.

And _then_ , after Corrin had managed to make a successful line that sort of _almost_ looked straight if you squinted hard enough and tilted your head sideways, Corrin suddenly asked,

"...what am I supposed to draw?"

"Things you like?" Silas suggested.

Corrin brightened.

She spent several minutes trying to find a good colour. Silas managed to draw a fairly cute cat in the time it took for her to find Light Grey and draw one (1) circle in the middle of her paper.

"What did you draw?" Silas asked, wondering if it was supposed to be a smiley face or something.

"The moon!" Corrin exclaimed happily. "What about you?"

"A cat!"

Corrin stared at it flatly.

"I don't know what a cat looks like," she admitted.

Silas, obviously, took this as a hideous, horrible, terrible affront, and added cats to the list of things that he needed to show Corrin one day.

Corrin smiled, and, alongside her new drawings of grass, open doors, dinner, windows, and sound, added a drawing of Silas.

With more colours, she added Kjelle, then Stahl and Sully, then Nowi, then Gaius, then, after several seconds of contemplation, Libra.

At this point, she didn't have enough space for more, so Silas lent her half of his page. She kept drawing. She drew a television, her lockpicks, the headband Silas got for her, and a jumble of lines that she explained was supposed to be the sound of a voice other than her own and her Papa's.

As Corrin looked for another colour, this time to represent crayons, Silas looked at the collection of all the things Corrin had never known before, all the things she loved and was grateful for—

—and, with the bright blue of Cerulean Aqua, drew a smiling albino girl sitting in the grass with everyone she had met.


	11. Corrin and Comic Books (part one)

"It's a story?" Corrin asked, delighted as she flipped through the pretty, pretty pages of the comic book.

Silas nodded excitedly.

"I don't know what's going on, though..."

"Oh, no worries! I can tell you!" Silas exclaimed with a smile. "See, this superhero fights the bad guys, and she always wins, because good _always_ triumphs over evil! No exceptions!"

Corrin stared at him blankly.

"What's a bad guy supposed to be?" Corrin inquired. "Like, a sinner?"

Silas, who didn't actually know what the word _'sin'_  meant, decided to explain with an example.

"A bad guy is someone who's mean and tries to hurt people! And a hero is someone who protects other people! Like how your dad showed up just to hurt you and hit me, and then Kjelle and mom saved us!"

Corrin's eyes widened, before she glared at Silas.

"My Papa isn't mean! He didn't know that you were a good person! He just wanted to protect me!"

"He hit you too!" Silas shot back. "That makes him really, really mean! Mom said he was the worst of the worst!"

"No! He's not! He's a good Papa!"

"Then why are my parents the ones teaching you everything?!"

"Because I wasn't good enough to learn how to face the world!"

"Your dad said he would lock you up forever!"

"Because I was _bad!"_

 _"You aren't!_ "

Corrin began to cry.

Silas flinched and went to apologize for yelling, but—

Corrin ran away.

Silas sat in his room, trying to reason to himself. Corrin just needed to cool off. And then everyone could talk to her and tell her that she wasn't a bad person. Things would be okay.

And then, everyone in the house heard the sound of the front door opening.

Stahl barely managed to catch his son before he ran out the door, babbling something about how it was all his fault Corrin left.


	12. Corrin and Comic Books (Part Two)

Corrin didn't really have a concept of what the word _'lost_ ' meant. She was so used to one strict, unchanging environment that she never really encountered the feeling of not knowing where she was.

When she realized this, she was in what Silas called a _'park'_ , sitting on a field of grass with the closest human beings around being a father and his child, pushing his son back and forth on a seat hanging from chains. They were in a strange, shallow pit full of wood chips, various metal contraptions scattered around.

When Corrin realized that, for once in her life, she was completely and utterly alone, without even the promise of a father coming to visit eventually, she froze.

There was something exhilarating and terrifying about it.

She was _free._  No one could keep her inside, she had _chosen this_ , she, for once in her life, had the _power_  to choose to escape and run and get out of that damned suffocating room—

But she was _alone._

In her mind, Corrin didn't think for a moment that any of the family would come back for her. 

And that meant that, she couldn't rely on anyone. Not to feed her, not to clothe her, not to give her a place to rest, not to help her learn how the world worked at all.

Corrin remembered how Sully and Stahl explained that, while most people were nice and kind, there were some that were horrific in every way. Their description of murderers and thieves reminded her of her father's warnings of corrupting sinners. 

She wondered if that meant she would die. 

Corrin looked up at the sky, and wondered if she would ever be able to see it again.

And then, she heard footsteps in her direction.

"Hi!" A boy with dark hair greeted her, his larger father following behind. "You seem like you're thinking lots."

"I d-don't..." Corrin began, only to start shaking and stuttering.

"Morgan," his father called out, "you're scaring her."

"Ah, sorry about that!" Morgan sat in front of her, and smiled brightly at her. "My name's Morgan! This is my dad, Kellam!"

"...hi," Kellam greeted as he sat next to Morgan. He was absolutely massive compared to the two children. "Are you alright?"

Corrin thought about it for a long time.

"I dunno," Corrin admitted. 

"Huh? How?" Morgan asked.

"I never... I never felt like this before..." Corrin admitted quietly. "I don't know if this is okay."

"You're starting to cry," Kellam noted, pulling a pack of tissues out of his pocket.

Corrin's eyes widened as the man gently offered it to her.

"T-thank you."

Kellam smiled at her.

"It's nothing, really. I mean it."

"Do you wanna play with me?" Morgan asked. "Inigo always takes me out to play when I feel bad! He says that a bit of fun will turn any frown into a smile!" At Corrin's confused stare, Morgan added, "oh, Inigo's the kid of the women me and my dad live with! He's like my big brother!"

Corrin wondered if a big brother did what big sisters did. 

"C'mon! Playing in the playground is a lot more fun than rolling around in the grass!" Morgan declared. He grabbed Corrin's hands, and, without her having the time to process it, pulled her up with him.

Corrin looked to Kellam as Morgan tugged her towards the swings. Kellam gestured for her to go with the boy, and she did so with no small amount of hesitation.

Kellam watched for a moment as his adopted son tried to help the girl find a way to walk to the swings without hurting her bare feet on the wood chips. A small sigh left his body, before he sent a message with his phone.

What seemed like a minute later, more people arrived at the scene.

 _"Corrin!"_ Stahl exclaimed, rushing forward to hug the girl. Corrin's eyes widened, her grip on the swing's chains slipping away out of shock. Morgan, her designated pusher, stepped back so the two could have some space. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"We've been looking everywhere for you," Kjelle grumbled, though relief could be seen in her eyes. 

"Don't make us worry like that!" Sully ordered.

"I'm sorry for making you sad!" Silas screamed. 

"I'm not sad," Corrin mumbled.

"Huh? Then why are you crying?" Morgan asked, leaning over to peer at Corrin sideways. 

"I... why would you... I don't understand why you would worry about _me,_ " Corrin stated. 

And, despite her young age, her words were heavy with the weight of self-contempt and regret.

Even as the family would try to get her to believe that she was worth more, worth their concern, worth their love, worth everything they could offer her, she was with them for far too short a time. 

She kept feeling like a parasite. An invader. An outcast who leeched off of their goodwill.

She would keep running away until they dragged her back, and she would keep running away even after she began to live with other people.

There are some wounds that take many years to heal, after all.

But for now, Kellam and his son would fade into the background to let the family comfort Corrin in peace.


	13. Corrin and a Mature Discussion

"It's been a while since you started living with us," Sully said, sitting across from Corrin at the round dining table. Stahl sat between Corrin and Sully, though he was more on his wife's side than Corrin's.

Corrin nodded, wondering if the adults had asked her for a conversation just to say things that everyone knew already.

No, they probably wouldn't do that.

"Well, you might not know this," Stahl started off, "but Kjelle and Silas... well, they're going back to school soon. And we have to work, too."

Corrin stared up at the man, confused.

"School is basically this place they go to learn things," Sully explained. "There would be adults helping you called _'teachers'_ , and lots of other kids around your age."

"We weren't sure if you would be able to go there," Stahl admitted. "You still don't know how to read or write in either of the country's languages. There are lots of things you don't know yet, and it's full of strangers, too..."

"But, we realized that we couldn't force you into something you hate," Sully declared. "We won't make you go, but we won't make you stay here without us either."

"If you don't want to go to school, we can ask our friends to take care of you during the day. Libra and Tharja don't need to leave their houses to work," Stahl offered, "but, if you want to go, we'll do our damndest to make sure you're alright."

"Wait. You're... letting _me_  choose?" Corrin asked, eyes wide with shock.

"We are," Sully replied. "You don't have to choose right away. It's a big decision, and you might change your mind—"

"I-I can _choose_  what I can do?" Corrin echoed.

"Yeah," Sully said as she nodded, realizing that no words she could say would be able to enter Corrin's skull at the moment.

"I wanna go! I wanna learn! I want my world to grow bigger and bigger!" Corrin screamed excitedly. 

"Then we'll sign you up." Stahl smiled at the little girl.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you for- this! For this!" Corrin babbled on, hugging Stahl, then hugging Sully.

"Yeah, yeah," Sully said fondly, despite the oddly affectionate eye roll done over Corrin's head. 

"Exciting, isn't it, huh?" Stahl asked, patting Corrin's head.

Of course, Corrin would cultivate a very negative reputation very quickly as a result of her oddities compared to the rest of the student body, becoming infamous around her grade as the class' _'ghost girl'._

Corrin wouldn't know what to do or who to turn to aside from Silas, having never met people who insulted her before. Lost and distraught, she would begin to wonder if she made the right choice in going to school when it was so difficult for her. She needed Silas' help to do what others regarded as the basic of basics, since she was too scared to rely on her special needs teacher.

But, just as she would be about to give up, Silas' plan to help her make friends would bear fruit in the most unexpected of ways.

_"Don't give up without even starting. It's an annoying trait for a friend to have."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay, he's here!


	14. Silas and Group Activities

There were two very big problems with the addition of Leo to the small group, Silas began to realize.

For one, Corrin and Silas were very comfortable with each other from living together, while Leo was more of an outsider to their conversations. It was clear that neither Corrin nor Leo were all that comfortable with each other, and to be honest, Silas wasn't all that comfortable with Leo either. None of them were the type of person who was exceedingly outgoing and friendly, so they were all awkwardly looking around, looking for someone else to take charge.

The second thing was that, while Silas was the sporty type, Leo and Corrin weren't. Corrin was _trying_ , but it took time and practice to build up enough endurance to keep up with Silas. And Leo just plain didn't want to. He often brushed off offers of a game of catch to go read under a tree.

If things kept up like that, then they most likely wouldn't be friends for very long at all.

And, well, Silas was used to that. A year ago, he would have been Leo, the boy who disappeared from the group to go off on his own. But, that was where the resemblances ended. 

Silas used to be rather shy and withdrawn, actually. He used to hide behind walls, unable to ask to join games or conversations. Maybe he still was that shy little boy. He didn't talk to many people outside his family, Corrin, and now Leo, after all...

But, Silas was nothing if not loyal. He might have been afraid to approach others, he might have had no idea how to start conversations, he might have not changed much at all...

But damn it if Corrin didn't make him want to try. 

He still remembered how Corrin put herself down and insisted her father was right in everything he said. How she was so dependant on their family for what everyone else would consider the basics of society. How excited she got when she got to experience new things, and how happy she was when she told him she'd be going to school with him.

Corrin deserved nothing but to be protected and happy, and if Silas had to change to make sure that was the case, he would. 

So.

That was the basic reasoning behind Silas climbing a tree in the school courtyard while wearing a leaf hat.

...okay, so the plan was basically that he figured that Leo would be reading somewhere in the trees, and Corrin would be looking for Silas, but then she would see Leo and strike up a conversation and they would be having tons of fun together.

It wasn't _perfect_ , but then again, Silas was seven years old. Frankly, it's a miracle his plan wasn't to try and bury them both under dirt so they would get along.

Silas sat and waited for about five minutes. And then he climbed down and started looking for them, because he was impatient. And seven.

He found them with a teacher, who was apparently trying to convince Corrin not to go back inside. Leo sighed, like the teacher had already said this many times before. Silas watched from behind a tree, wondering what was going on.

"Silas is already outside," the teacher said patiently. "You can go find him."

Corrin was completely incapable of replying. She was shaking as she clung to Leo, barely peeking out from behind him.

Leo managed to pull her away, then rounded on her with a flat look.

"Why are you so bad at talking to people?" Leo asked bluntly. "People avoid you because of it."

Silas stiffled a gasp of horror. What the heck was he saying to Corrin?!

"I didn't really learm how," Corrin admitted. "I don't talk much to people other than Silas and his family..."

"Then get used to it."

Ah. That thump sound meant that Leo sat down on the dirt.

"How?"

"Talk to people."

"... _how?"_

"How am I supposed to know?"

Corrin let out a low whine, and Leo sighed. 

"Ask them questions, I guess? My big sister calls everyone nicknames..."

"You have an older sister?"

"Yeah."

"U-uh, Leo! What is that.... book... saying?"

"...you mean, what it's about?"

"Yeah!"

"History. Ancient stories of the Hero-King."

Silas cheered as Corrin asked about the story, and Leo was coaxed into describing the novel and how he felt about it. 

Then his stomach rumbled and the pair found him behind the tree.

They were surprisingly okay with the fact that Silas had been planning to make them get along through subterfuge, given that he admitted it right after. Silas wasn't very good at lying, after all.

Leo suggested he join them next time, preferably with food.

They managed to start a little routine. Every recess, they'd meet up under a tree, eating food and talking about stories they liked.

It was fun, even if Corrin's only frame of reference were the books she read with her father. Which were creepy and weird and usually ended with people dying.

They were too young to realize that all the stories Corrin had read were stories of humanity's ugliness and willingness to betray each other at the slightest provocation. They just thought her dad liked weird books.


	15. Corrin and Cleaning

One of Corrin's fondest memories was the time her father gave her a gift.

It was a symbol of her growing abilities of independance and self-reliance, he had said, curling her small fingers around the metal handle. She no longer needed him to keep her living area clean, and that was something to take pride in.

And Corrin did.

She loved being able to get up and _do something_  with her muscles. She was so excited over her new gift that she must have spent hours upon hours just sweeping her room. It was the first new thing in so long, and Corrin grew attached to the gift. Even after the excitement and novelty wore off, sweeping was still something comforting to her.

Sometimes, Corrin tried to sweep the McMaster-Knightley home. But it was so much bigger than her room, and she wasn't used to the broom they had. But it was comforting and fun to her.

She honestly had no idea why Sully and Stahl thought Kjelle was being mean, asking her to clean the house. She loved cleaning the house!

* * *

 

"Wait, you're seriously in trouble for trying to make your little sister do the chores?" Severa asked, an odd expression on her face as she spoke to her friend on the phone. She was lounging on the couch, _supposedly_  watching over her kid brother as he played and her parents prepared dinner, but to be honest... she was so not paying attention to him.

"Yeah. I don't get why. She loves doing chores."

"...the _hell_  kinda kid is your little sister?" Severa demanded. _"I_  want a little sibling who loves doing my chores."

"Beat me in a fight, and I'll consider it."

"You really think you can take me on? _Ha!_  I'll fold you into a pretzel!"

Hinata looked up from his toy sword with a bright grin.

"Sevvy, you're getting into another fight?! Can I watch?!"

"Shhh! Don't be so loud!"

 _"SEVERA!"_ Cordelia screamed, bursting in. _"What_  did I say about fighting your fellow trainees?!"

"Only if there's an experienced instructor watching," Severa grumbled.

"Make sure you win," Lon'qu piped up as he peeled the potatoes.

"Dad! Dad, can I watch!?"

"Sure."

Cordelia groaned.


	16. Corrin and Flowers

"Corrin, that's a dandelion," Leo said plainly, sitting under a tree with the other two. Silas was napping next to a reading Leo, while Corrin amused herself by examining the plants around them.

"Dandelions come in yellow and white?" Corrin asked in return, poking at the puffy white ball of fluff.

She squeaked when some fluff came out and started drifting away with the wind.

"Dandelions turn white because those are the seeds," Leo explained. "The wind blows them places and new dandelions start growing where they land."

"That's really, really cool!" Corrin exclaimed, before realizing she was too enthusiastic. By enthusiastic, she meant loud. She said her next bit quieter, but not the slightest bit less excited. "You really know a lot, Leo!"

"It's really just common knowledge," Leo replied casually.

"But you're also really, really, really patient with me even if everyone knows it and explain it to me and I'm really thankful for it!" Corrin told him honestly.

Leo brought the book closer to his face, almost hiding his entire head behind it.

"It's not a big deal," Leo mumbled. "Anyone could do it."

"Yeah, that's true," Corrin mused, humming happily as she toyed with the stem of the dandelion. "I really should be grateful to everyone who _does_  explain it to me, then."

"What are you going to do?" Leo asked.

"I'm gonna tell everyone how great and nice and great and cool they are!" Corrin declared happily. "And I'll show them I'm learning and I'm gonna learn more and everything!"

That evening, Sully and Stahl found a crude approximation of the Nohrian alphabet on a ripped piece of paper on the dining table. Kjelle had apparently helped Corrin write the names of the flowers next to the alphabet, along with a drawing of the entire family together.

The parents burst into Silas' room as Silas was reading a storybook out loud for Corrin, and hugged the two tightly.


	17. Corrin and Gratitude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, theres absolutely nothing i love more than the idea that corrin is like That because Total Drama Queen Nowi and Absolute Weirdo But Still Good At Everything Gaius took her under their wings

"Y'know, I'm pretty surprised we can visit the kitchen. You'd think that they'd be mad about us maybe poisoning Scaly's food or their goddess getting burnt or something," Gaius noted, entering the kitchen.

"Gaius, I love you and all, but never call me that again," Nowi huffed. "And technically, none of us are supposed to be here, but some of the guards like me."

"You can't even bake? That sucks."

"Baking!" Corrin exclaimed excitedly, gazing around at the kitchen.

There was a very good reason why Corrin was in the kitchen of the Divine Dragon's Temple with no one but Nowi and Gaius watching her. The reason was that her family had visited Nowi, but then Gaius and Frederick came in together. Frederick spoke with Sully and Stahl, leaving Kjelle and Silas to entertain themselves. Corrin took the time to ask Gaius and Nowi for help, since they were her favourite adults she didn't see too often.

The help she needed was making a gift. Nowi had very little experience with making gifts, though she often received offerings. Gaius, however, immediately decided to teach the two how to bake the best sweets in the country.

Gaius was surprisingly patient with the two inexperienced bakers. Apparently, he helped his friend Benita by training her pastry chefs in exchange for food.

Corrin was very short and small, though, and the kitchen was not really equipped for children. Nowi made up for this by lifting Corrin up and depositing her on the counter so the girl could reach everything.

When wryly questioned on this by Gaius, Nowi's response was thus:

"I am considered a living goddess, a dragon's soul given sustenance and strength and flesh by the masses. Peasants bow before me. The government is swayed by the merest implication of my desires. I am exulted and worshipped by the hour. My appearance in public causes glee. If I want to put this baby on top of the counter, _I can do that."_

"Were you waiting for the chance to make a dramatic speech?"

"Yeah."

Corrin hummed happily as she mixed cupcake batter together.

Her first attempt at cupcakes were only edible thanks to Gaius being there. 

But, the next time they met, Gaius gave them the two recipe books he supposedly convinced Frederick to give him the money to buy.

(Corrin's questions about their relationship was met with answers of, "w _oah_ you are too young to know that," and "good friends. Very, very good.")

Sully was convinced that it was a gift from Nowi, since Corrin didn't quite understand the difference between "I got the book while I was at Nowi's home" and "I got the book from Nowi's home." Because of that, Corrin was allowed to keep practicing baking.

She was very happy when Gaius broke into their house to try her cookies. He called them a good place to start and encouraged her to keep going.

Corrin was happy, though she would have been a lot happier if Sully stopped screaming about how close she had been to beheading Gaius because she thought he was a robber,  _gods Gaius why have you not learned how to knock yet—?!_


	18. Corrin and Animals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is entirely because my friend thought it would be funny if corrin hated horses since like, the nohr royals (minus camilla) are all horse classes, silas' family (minus kjelle) are all cavaliers, so shes just sitting there, glaring at the equine monsters.  
> visits to the ryder family farm must be fun for her.

Silas had been the one who thought that Leo was a good choice for friendship.

He did it for two reasons.

One, he figured that someone so quiet wouldn't overwhelm Corrin in conversation. Plus, since he was so quiet, he didn't have any other friends, so Corrin would never have to deal with a group of the blonde's friends.

Two, he read a lot. Silas figured that Leo could help Corrin learn to read faster.

Silas was absolutely on the mark with that.

Leo had a revelation that none of them had considered before when trying to teach Corrin.

 _'She definitely knows how to_ talk _in the right language. She just needs to learn how to match the words on the page to the words she hears.'_

Stahl was so inspired, he almost spent a day making flashcards for Corrin. Almost, since, well, Sully just stared at him flatly, then printed off some random sets she found on the internet.

At the moment, Stahl was showing the albino flashcards themed around certain animals. 

Though, uh, they had a few problems, since Corrin hadn't actually _seen_  most of those animals before.

"This is a dog," Stahl attempted. "Do you remember what the word looks like? And what letters it's made out of?"

"Why is the dog white?" Corrin asked.

"There are a lot of different types of dogs," Stahl explained patiently. "They look different from each other, but they're all still dogs. Think of cats."

Corrin nodded, and Stahl sighed in relief. He was glad his previous explanation of cat breeds stuck in her head... and rabbits... and hamsters.

"Now, this one—"

"Evil," Corrin said immediately.

"Eh?"

"Evil. It's evil," Corrin told him insistently.

Stahl turned the card, just to make sure it was what he thought it was.

It was still a picture of a horse and the word _'horse'._

"Corrin? Why is the horse evil?" He asked in confusion.

"I don't trust those eyes. Mean. Mean eyes. Evil eyes."

Stahl was just very, very confused.

He never actually got a satisfying explanation for why Corrin hated horses. She had never even _seen_  a horse before. Once, he tried to introduce her to the pair of dependable warhorses that carried him and Sully through the war.

Corrin stuck out her tongue at the horses and ran away.

It was just something man wasn't meant to know, he supposed.


	19. Corrin and Heart Attacks

Corrin had no idea what was happening.

She was holding a sobbing Silas' hand as Kjelle tried to comfort the two of them, but Corrin wasn't upset.

She was just very, very confused.

The family had been visiting Nowi again, when the green-haired woman suddenly keeled over.

A doctor person had rushed to her and said that her heart was being attacked, or... something?

But, even when the guards grabbed a box from somewhere to help, no one moved for the longest while, until Sully started screaming at them.

Stahl took the box and opened it, shoving people away as he knelt next to Nowi. Sully demanded to know why no one was trying to save her.

The doctor replied that it was akin to instant damnation to consider ruining the purity of a Divine Dragon.

The guards started looking away as Stahl removed the golden collar from Nowi's neck, then ripped the top of her dress off. He started attaching stuff with wires to her.

Sully screamed at the doctor, angrily asking if the other woman would rather let Nowi die.

"She's a _goddess_. Even if her body died, her spirit will live on! We will continue to worship her memory!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Isn't a doctor supposed to preserve life?! How could you say that?!"

Corrin watched with curious eyes as the two argued.

Sully went on to demand if anyone in the room even cared about Nowi as something aside from a goddess, aside from the role that had been forced on her. She screamed that Nowi had been a normal child who never asked to be worshipped. 

Corrin wondered what her father would say. If she were the one dying, would he say it was better for her to die than to go against the divine decrees of his religion?


	20. Corrin and Teasing

"KJELLE!" Silas screamed, bursting into his older sister's room. She couldn't tell whether she was giving him an annoyed or concerned expression, since he seemed terrified as he dragged Corrin towards her.

"What?" Kjelle managed in a semi-not-annoyed tone, almost sounding like a responsible sister.

"What did you do to Corrin?!"

"Uh. You mean, the exercise program?" Kjelle stared at Corrin, trying to see if the girl was injured. The exercise program was very, very toned down, since Corrin needed to build up strength and endurance, but that didn't mean that Corrin couldn't wear herself out.

"No!" Silas huffed, voice turning whiny. "She called me a doof! Like you do! And said I have fluffy hair! _What did you do!?"_

Ah.

"I think she realized that you are, in fact, a doof," the fourteen-year old replied.

"A doof!" Corrin echoed, making Kjelle's lips quirk up into a small grin.

Silas let out an annoyed yell. Kjelle just ruffled his hair until it pointed everywhere. This made him even more exasperated.

"No, but seriously. I didn't teach you that," Kjelle stated, staring at Corrin. "Where did you learn that?"

"Leo!" Corrin exclaimed. "He said not being honest is how friends tease! And you call Silas a doof and he doesn't hate it as much as he says so it must be okay for teasing!"

Silas pouted.

"You're not wrong," Kjelle noted. "But isn't Leo that guy that gets embarrassed whenever _you_  compliment him, but not if Silas does?"

The two nodded, and Kjelle raised an eyebrow.

She then decided that she didn't care enough to tell them. Though she did care enough to exaggerate her complaints to Severa and Inigo when they next met.

She instructed the two to ask their parents for more help teasing people. This would then lead to Stahl almost getting an aneurysm because Corrin repeated something Sully said that should have never been said by any child.


	21. Corrin and Birthdays

"When is your birthday, Corrin?" Silas asked suddenly.

"...you mean, the day I, uh, started existing?" Corrin asked. She was seated on the floor, though she turned away from her drawing to look at Silas in confusion.

"Yeah," Silas huffed, rolling over on his bed to read on his stomach.

"I... don't remember. I was a baby."

"What?! But that's illegal! Everyone knows their birthday!"

"H-huh?!"

"Mine is the first of November! Kjelle's is like two days before mine, so we always get a double party! Mom's the fifth of December, and Dad's the sixteenth of June!"

"W-wait, when do I—" Corrin scrambled to write it down.

"November is the month of Hector! September is the month of Lyn! December is Roy month! And June is the month of Marth!"

Corrin's eyes lit up in recognition. She knew those guys! 

"And Leo's was also in June... But I kinda forgot the day," Silas mumbled, embarrassed.

"Wow..."

"But, anyways! It is _totally unacceptable_  that you don't know your birthday!" Silas exclaimed, so angry that he had to push himself into a kneeling position just to be angry in a comfier position.

"I'm sorry I didn't know..."

"That's not the problem! You not knowing is the problem!" Silas declared. "The problem is that it means you never had a birthday before! And that's illegal! Because birthdays are _special!"_

"They are?"

"Yeah! Because they're for everyone to celebrate! And give you gifts! And tell you that you're special! And that we are happy you're alive!"

"I-I can't believe I didn't know...! So I've been missing the chance to show my gratitude?"

"No! It's supposed to be a day for you! Forget about making everyone else happy!" Silas ordered.

Corrin looked guilty at the mere thought.

"But I haven't done anything to be worthy of it."

"You were born! And that's all!" Silas insisted.

"But... to say you're grateful I'm alive is a bit much, isn't it...?"

Silas began to pout and glare. Corrin recognized that look, and knew that he wouldn't stop until she said she agreed with him.

"...okay. So, um. But you still don't know when my birthday... is?"

"Then you can borrow my birthday!" Silas declared. "This year, we'll share it! Until we know when your birthday actually is, we can celebrate together!"

Corrin knew there was no stopping Silas at this point, so instead, she just smiled.

But, instead of gifts for herself, (selfish, _selfish_  gifts for herself), she asked to get things for everyone she appreciated.

Nowi got a pretty doll that reminded Corrin of a queen, along with a drawing of sunshine and moonlight. Gaius got a bunch of homemade sweets. Tharja was especially amused when her husband, Libra, got a very messily-written letter with a translation by Sully that basically read, _'you're really scary but thank you for helping me.'_

For the McMaster-Knightley family, Corrin got them things she thought they liked. Kjelle got a stuffed animal named Cyrus from a tv show since Corrin mistook the name for Silas'. Silas got a cape. Stahl got cupcakes because Corrin set the soup on fire. Sully also got cupcakes, because she didn't know what protein was and accidentally made a concoction that would have killed her.

Leo was very, very confused when Corrin presented him with a headband.

"...what's this for?"

"Silas' birthday!" Corrin exclaimed cheerfully.

"Corrin, it's _April."_

The albino kind of looked like a kicked puppy at that, so Leo just gave up and put on the headband.

When he thanked her, she was smiling again, so... he supposed it would be fine if he kept wearing for a day or so.


	22. Corrin and Dreams

"When I grow up, I wanna be a superhero!" Silas declared proudly, standing before the two seated underneath a tree.

"Superheroes don't exist," Leo replied immediately, not even looking up from his book.

"Wha— but they _do!"_  Silas insisted, and Corrin just looked very confused.

"Magic doesn't exist anymore. You only find it in stories about the heroes. And if you don't have magic, you can't be a superhero," Leo reasoned.

"You're wrong! Heroes totally exist! My parents are both heroes!"

"They're both _police officers_ ," Leo corrected.

"Same thing! They both help people and protect people!"

Leo had no verbal or emotional reaction to that, which suited Silas just fine. He was perfectly happy with the opportunity to talk about how cool his family was.

"Grow up..." Corrin mumbled, looking up at the light flitting in through the leaves. "Is it normal to have a future?"

"Of course! Everyone has something they wanna do!" Silas exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Really!" And to prove it, he pointed at Leo dramatically. "Leo! What do you wanna be when you grow up!?"

"Alive," the blonde retorted.

The other two stared at him for a moment, before Corrin, confused, tried to applaud him for his lofty goals. 

"Don't clap!" Silas screamed. "What kind of dream for the future is that?! Of course you're gonna be alive!"

"Huh? But lots of people die young?" Corrin added innocently. "One of the clearest examples of human depravity is when a mother drowned her inf—"

"You know what depravity means?" Leo asked, slightly impresssed.

"I don't!" Silas interjected. "And why do you know that kind of story off the top of your head?!"

"Papa told me."

"Actually," Leo said suddenly, almost as if he realized that the subject needed to be changed, "I thought of what I want to be in the future."

"Huh?" Corrin looked at him with the kind of bright smile that made hearts stop.

"Taller than my brother."

Silas nodded, understanding completely.

"You have a brother?" Corrin asked.

Leo nodded.

He told them about how he had a big brother named Xander who was shy and stuttered a lot. His big sister, Camilla, had been quiet and withdrawn, but she had recently become very doting and protective of him and his little sister, Elise.

The idea of little sisters and big brothers threw Corrin for a loop, considering that she had only known Kjelle and Silas, a big sister and a little brother.

Maybe Camilla was the big sister to Xander too, and that made Xander a little brother, but from Leo's perspective, Xander was big and Elise was little since Leo was in the middle...?

Corrin spent a few minutes pondering as Leo and Silas commiserated over the sorrows of having siblings.

Corrin's home had been empty and lonely. 

And... if she had been good enough to ask for something without it being selfish...

"I want a happy family," Corrin realized. "A big, happy family full of love."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? put foreshadowing in this cute oneshot series about corrin learning stuff? i would _never_


	23. Corrin and the Archest of Archers

"You asked _Virion_  to babysit," Sully said flatly, raising an eyebrow in that recurring  _'Stahl, why do I keep trusting you to do this'_ way.

"Corrin and Silas seemed to like him?" Stahl attempted to defend himself.

Sully kept staring. 

"...Okay, so Anna scares Corrin, Olivia and Kellam _live with_  Anna, Maribelle refuses to take care of them until we fix Silas' hair, couldn't get a hold of Gaius, Tharja and Libra still scare Corrin, Henry would terrify her and you know it, Ricken is also out of the equation, Cherche and Miriel are out of town, Frederick has to train people, Cordelia told me to invest in a daycare and wouldn't stop giving me options until I ran away, Lon'qu keeps encouraging his daughter to fight Kjelle, Donnel's bringing his kids to meet their grandmother, I have no idea where Vaike lives, I can't just drop off my kids at the palace no matter how good of a babysitter Sumia is, and Gregor is probably drunk by now. And I'm pretty sure Nowi is somewhere between an excited puppy and a bad influence in terms of her skills in the babysitting thing."

Sully paused.

"You have a point," she admitted. "That doesn't mean I like it, though."

"He's _Virion_ ," Stahl tried persuading her. "He couldn't possibly be _that_  bad, right?"

* * *

 

 

It was three hours past the kids' bedtime, but none of them were even close to sleeping. And besides, Virion believed in every individual having the right to choose when they wanted to sleep, especially on a weekend.

"And this was when Robin crashed the cake directly into Frederick's face, screaming at him all the while about all the love and care that was put into it," Virion recounted. "It was quite the magnificent sight, someone so dignified as Frederick with cream over his face, blinking like an idiot as this girl who only came up to his shoulders scolded him for acting so coldly to a gift meant for him."

"Did she get away with it?!" Silas asked excitedly.

"Of course not. Frederick stuffed her locker full of whipped cream in revenge. Which then led to her drawing shirtless men all over _his_  locker, and he retaliated with getting Sully to think Robin was slacking in her workout routine—"

"Mom is in this story?" Kjelle asked, a bit shocked as she recorded the entire thing.

"Yes, and your father, too."

"What were they like?! What were they like?!"

"What...?" Corrin repeated shyly.

"Well, your mother was _quite_  the workout addict, hardly a day went by without her dragging someone to Frederick's training sessions... And your father, he was average, but he had an above-average capacity for food! He kept angering your morher all the time with his eating habits, and she kept getting annoyed with how he would never be able to work off the fat— or was it carbs? —well, either way, this then led to her—"

Sully had the sudden feeling she needed to murder someone.


	24. Corrin and. Uh. D....dating?

"If you can't get your crush to like you back," Kjelle started off, despite Silas not caring and Corrin having no idea what she was talking about, "make them hate you. That way, they pay attention to you."

"What? No. No, don't do that," Sully piped up as she tried to fix the faucet pipes. "Who the hell taught you that? Why would you do that?"

"She really is your kid, huh," Stahl noted blandly as he ironed the clothes. 

"Stahl, what the hell is that supposed to mean."

"Constantly challenging me to fights."

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH WE'RE DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS," Sully declared, head lifting up so fast she bumped it on the top of the cupboard. This only made her look even more pissed off at Kjelle. "Seriously though. What the hell kind of thing are you teaching them. And why are you talking about love."

"Love..." Corrin repeated, trying to remember something on the subject.

Silas really didn't care about stupid love whatever, and wanted nothing more than to leave.

"The girl I like hates me," Kjelle stated. "She's always irritated with what I do, and if she thanks me for anything, it's begrudging. If I can't make her like me, I'll make her hate me more."

"Kjelle, random question," Stahl said, remembering a tidbit of information from the mom drinking parties (though they also let Kellam and Libra join in too. And Vaike, for some reason.) "...is her last name Matoi?"

"Yeah."

"Does she have long hair that she keeps in a bun?" he asked, despite knowing the answer already.

"Yeah."

"Ah," Stahl said. "Okay. Uh. Just... just ask her out. That's all I can say. Just go for it."

The very next day, Kjelle, with a bunch of new bruises, proudly announced that she had challenged her crush to a sparring match and asked her out, which she accepted. Corrin was horrified by the violence involved in love.

Sully, however, had one question.

_'Cordelia, Lon'qu, what the hell are you teaching your kids?!'_

Oh, and Kjelle's girlfriend was forever banned from the house. 

Because Sully knew that, if the girl was anything like Kjelle had described, Sully would end up fighting her eventually.

Of course, Sully could obviously take on a high school girl, even if she was trained by Frederick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> laslow is like the only one of the ylisse trio whose sidechapter can be posted at the moment but it doesnt say anything about them as a group so i have to use the sidestory to add info that isnt immediately pertinent to the main plot, such as: severa and inigo lying about their ages.  
> i mean come on. the prince runs away and takes two of his high school buddies with him? and they just happen to have incredible skill with swords? that seems like the result of years of practice?  
> nah of course theyre lying about their age. they have to be, considering that they're almost full-fledged knights


	25. Corrin and Halloween

Corrin honestly didn't remember how she met Leo's family. 

But, well, both Silas and Leo claimed that it was a long story in that way that meant that it was less long and more complicated, so Corrin didn't ask. 

She was a bit busy examining his siblings anyways. 

Camilla really did seem like the biggest out of them. Corrin couldn't remember if it had been that way since the moment they met, but it seemed like every time they met, Camilla tried to take care of her in some way. Just like Kjelle, but Camilla was nicer about it.

Though, for some reason, Corrin thought she saw sadness in Camilla's eye every time...

Elise had taken to Corrin quickly, always smiling and laughing. Corrin was awestruck by how tiny Elise was. She was so young, but her kind heart was so obvious! She must have been so good, so young, to have been allowed outside so young. Corrin hoped to live up to her example.

Xander, though, he was like a mirror. Silas had told her once, _(probably, her memory was hazy)_ , "he's just as scared of you as you are of him." 

The idea was plausible. He didn't look her in the eye and he spoke really, really quietly and slowly, and he seemed to back away from answering certain things.

He seemed familiar. 

Of course, that was probably because she was seeing herself in him.

Corrin really only started seeing them around a lot after a holiday Silas' family called _'Halloween.'_

See, Sully and Stahl were busy since people always threw crazy Halloween parties, plus Halloween _was_  the one day of the year it wasn't suspicious to be covered in blood or carry around weapons, so as police officers, they had their work cut out for them.

They had been agonizing over the idea of just telling the kids to stay inside or maybe leaving them with a friend, but then they realized that Corrin was anxious around most of them. Aside from Gaius, whom _no one_  trusted when there were sweets involved, and Virion, who would just embarrass everyone and hand the kids roses made of pure chocolate, probably.

So, when the pair learned that Corrin was comfortable around Leo's family, they were ecstatic that they would not have to deal with the temper tantrums— er, sorry, excited that they could give their kids another happy Halloween.

Silas had refused to wear anything but a miniature copy of a police uniform. His parents were surprised by his sudden departure from the superhero costumes of old, but ultimately honoured that he admired the profession so much.

Kjelle wore a knight costume, a fun nod to her current training.

And, well, Corrin, when brought to the costume store, asked for the cheapest possible costume, as she didn't want to be selfish.

They tried to convince her to get a costume that appealed to her, but the only thing she wanted was a cat ear headband...

They at least got her a matching cat costume, though they had to pretend it was an old costume Kjelle wore when she was young so that Corrin wouldn't feel bad about it.

They met up in a playground.

Silas explained it all to her.

Xander was dressed as a _'pirate.'_  Leo was a _'vampire.'_  Camilla was a _'demon.'_ Elise was an _'angel.'_

And their dad was _'a normal guy carrying a giant axe_.'

Corrin was anxious around the new adult, but Silas took her hand as he did so many times before. And then Leo took her other hand, and Corrin felt calmer.

It turned out that the axe was a prop. 

"Prop-ably," he said, making Kjelle groan.

Corrin was really confused, but then Elise and Silas, the most eager ones, led everyone in trick-or-treating.

Even if Corrin couldn't actually do anything, since both her hands were occupied.

Instead, she simply quietly observed what the others did.

Silas was always at the front of the group, usually dragging her and Leo along with him. His voice was clear and loud as he did so. Kjelle stuck next to her little brother, slowing her steps to walk next to him. She didn't carry a bag, since she didn't like sweets.

Leo was quieter than Silas, but he had a certain eagerness in his posture when he asked for treats. He had no problem asking for treats, either. 

Elise, despite being just as excited as Silas, preferred to stay next to Xander and Camilla, who naturally gravitated towards the back of the group.

However, while Elise and Camilla's voices were as confident as Leo's, Xander tended to either stutter or wordlessly thrust his bag out in front of him. 

Leo's dad asked for candy too. He was rather good at it.

They went around Silas' neighbourhood, getting candy from a kind farmer grandma, a bald shirtless guy, and a happy couple wearing clothes Stahl said were _'Hoshidan.'_  

As the couple handed out candy, Corrin noticed two boys around the same age, chasing each other around. One had red hair and one had green hair. The man, their father, presumably, told them to behave, and the one with green hair spotted them.

She had the strangest feeling that he was staring at _her_ , but then they were off.

Leo's dad brought them back to the playground, telling them to go off and play.

Elise immediately went to go do so, so, Kjelle, as the oldest not-Garon among them, had the immediate instinct to keep her from hurting herself balanced with the instinct to take a moment away from the children.

Camilla laughed and joined them. Leo's dad whispered something to Xander, which prompted him to cautiously approach Leo and Silas and Corrin, who had already started trying to divide their bounties.

"I... might get sick if I eat too much," Corrin mumbled.

"Eat them a little at a time," Leo instructed as he gave her half his candy.

Silas immediately started stealing some, half because he was Gaius' student in the arts of candy-theft, and half because Corrin was already giving him most of it anyways.

"You gotta try some of them now, though," Silas said as he ate a pilfered gummy worm. "That way, you don't try to eat them later and learn that you don't like most of them."

Corrin nodded and opened a coffee-flavoured chocolate, just as Xander sat with them under a blooming tree.

"Dad... dad got these candies, a-and wanted to share them with you since you couldn't grab any," Xander said much too quickly, dumping the contents of Garon's bag on top of Corrin's pile.

Corrin's eyes went blank as she processed the sight of the massive (to her) pile.

She turned her head to look at Silas desperately, and he, in a _'already on it'_  sort of way, looked through the additions to see if his favourite candies were in there. 

She then turned to Leo, who silently took a portion of it to make her feel less anxious about the size.

Then, breathing in, Corrin looked up at Xander and smiled shyly.

"Th... thank you."

"No p-problem."

"Are you gonna eat that?" Silas asked, ignoring the awkwardness entirely to point at the chocolate still in Corrin's hand.

Corrin broke it in half and offered it to Silas, but he didn't like coffee-flavoured stuff. Leo was preoccupied trying to sort all of it evenly, which included scolding Silas for theft, so Corrin offered the other half to Xander instead.

They ate it at the same time and reacted at the same time, and their reactions couldn't be more different.

Corrin made sounds of disgust as Xander got a wide smile on his face. She looked at him like he was insane when he asked if he could have the others since she didn't like them, but she gave him the coffee-flavoured sweets anyways.

It was the start of a tradition every Halloween, and also Xander's coffee addiction.

Because ninety-nine point nine percent of pretty much everything in this world is at least partially Corrin's fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like corrin would be very good at observing changes in facial expression.  
> she just sucks at identifying what they mean.


	26. Corrin and Superstitions

Silas had a lot of weird habits.

Of course, Corrin didn't exactly have any reference for what _'normal'_  was supposed to be, so she didn't really question the dubious normalcy of his actions.

It was only after Silas had dragged her around a playground, scouring the grass for crow feathers, that she learned that it was weird, apparently.

"Sorry Corrin," Sully said with a sigh. "Silas loves those old wives' tales. No idea where the hell he got it from."

"Wives' tales?" Corrin echoed, looking up at Sully in confusion.

"Superstitions," Sully told her. "Crow feathers sealed with wax are good luck, rid a stem of its leaves in one go and you'll find happiness, stuff like that."

Corrin didn't actually know what the word superstition meant, but she was too interested in the examples given to her to question Sully. Instead, she happily went off and went to look for crow feathers with Silas.

It was only a few days later that she suddenly recalled that she never actually learned the definition of the word.

"What's a superstition?" Corrin asked suddenly, making Leo and Silas look up from the ants they had been observing to look at her.

"It's a story that people spread around," Leo explained.

"Yeah, and they're one hundred percent true!" Silas added happily.

"No, they're not. They're just dumb things you tell stupid babies," Leo countered.

It was kind of like a lightning strike had hit Silas, since he instantly shot Leo a megavolt glare.

Corrin was very confused when Silas shuffled so he was sitting next to her.

"He's a grumpy pants. I don't talk to grumpy pantses."

"I'm not a grumpy pants! And that's not even—"

"Grumpy pants," Silas declared.

Leo was very indignant, just as Silas started laughing.

"So Silas is a stupid babies, and Leo is a grumpy pantses... what am I?" Corrin pondered.

Silas thought about it seriously.

"A little sisters," Silas stated.

"It fits," Corrin said in awe.

"I don't understand you two at all," Leo said with a sigh.

"But even though you don't, you still hang out with us, right?" Silas retorted with a grin.

"Leo, you like us, don't you?" Corrin asked with a matching smile.

"Don't be stupid!"

A few weeks ago, this kind of retort probably would have made Corrin cry, terrified of losing her friend.

Now, though, she simply laughed.

 


	27. Corrin and Help

"Corrin... you're lost, aren't you," the words were phrased in a questioning tone, yet it felt more Kjelle making a blunt obervation than asking anything.

"...I can't read the signs..." Corrin admitted.

Kjelle sighed. 

Her parents had asked her to help teach Corrin how to pay for things while Silas was at the dentist, but, like many things were for Corrin, she found that Corrin was a couple more steps back than previously thought.

"Alright, let's ask someone for help," Kjelle said, before Corrin yelped and grabbed her wrist.

"N-no, I-I can read them if I try harder! Please!" Corrin begged, using all her childish might to try and tug Kjelle away from the strangers. "Please don't..."

"Corrin, you need to learn how to talk to strangers," Kjelle stated. "Doesn't matter if you don't like it. The world's not just made up of people you know already."

Corrin whimpered but then Kjelle knelt down before the younger girl.

"You didn't know me, before, right? Or mom, or dad, or Silas, or Leo, or Nowi, or all the people you consider friends."

Corrin nodded uncertainly, meeting Kjelle eye-to-eye.

"So, think of them as people who could be friends," Kjelle said, giving Corrin a small smile, "that's your challenge from me. And you won't back down from a challenge, right?"

"I-I won't!" Corrin declared, standing up straighter and clenching her tiny hands into fists. A light of determination entered her eyes. "I'll do my best!"

"That's the spirit."  

Corrin went through the aisles of the small flower shop, Kjelle following close behind.

Kjelle had chosen this particular flower shop because, well, it was within walking distance of their house, and she knew the employees. Not because she regularly checked out flower shops or anything, mind you, Severa would murder her for getting her flowers.

She knew the employees, because Noire mentioned working to try and help with her social anxiety. Kjelle naturally had to ask where, and promised to drop by if she had the time. 

Sure it had been three weeks since Noire said that, but Kjelle was still keeping to her word. 

The pair found Noire manning the counter. Corrin sucked in a deep voice and did her best.

"E-excuse me, I— um..." 

"Y-yes?" Noire looked down at Corrin over the counter, and the albino shrank in stature.

"Need... need help with... with the...."

Kjelle probably should have expected what happened next.

"INSOLENT CHILD! SPEAK UP OR BE SILENCED!"

"E-e _yaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"_

"Wa-wait, no, I'm _so sorry_ , I—"

"Uwwwaaaaaaaaaah!"

Corrin began to sob. A single glance at Noire's face told her that the blonde wanted to cry too. 

Just as Kjelle was about to step in, a boy with familiar pink hair did so for her.

"What could have possibly have made such a cute little girl cry?" Inigo asked, kneeling down before Corrin. Noire's shoulders slumped, something he definitely noticed.

Corrin whimpered, moving closer to Kjelle.

"Hey, don't worry, we're all friends here," he told her. "Noire might seem scary, but when you get to know her, you realize she's actually a total sweetheart."

"Inigo, what are you doing," Kjelle demanded.

"Just watch, alright?" he said, before winking and whispering to Corrin, "watch very carefully."

Corrin looked up, before Inigo theatrically draped himself over the counter.

"Noire, what could ever compare to your beauty?" he asked dramatically. "A single rose is far too drab, a million peonies could never—"

"Inigo. Get off the counter," Noire ordered.

"But, my love! How could you tell me to do such a thing?!" Inigo asked.

Corrin laughed at the overblown spectacle, and Inigo grinned victoriously.

"If Noire can tolerate a dramatic guy like me, then she can definitely be nice to a sweet kid like you. You just gotta give her another chance, okay?"

"To... ler....ate?"

"She loves me on the inside, I know she does. Even if she won't admit it."

"Inigo..." Noire said flatly.

Inigo leaned over the counter to whisper something to Noire, who then stood at attention.

"I-I can help you!" she announced quickly. "I, um, the, no, just... forgive me if I... um, snap? Because that's uh, um, a disorder..."

Corrin didn't know what that word meant either, so Inigo piped up.

"Sometimes, Noire's brain gets taken over by a mean, stinky demon, and it makes her say things she doesn't mean. So you have to be patient with her, because she's really, really sorry whenever it happens, okay?"

Corrin nodded.

"I... um, I need help... finding a flower, because I can't read the signs," Corrin said slowly. "Please help me."

"Of course, let me show you around the store!" Noire exclaimed eagerly, and the two went off.

Kjelle was left with Inigo, who hopped off the counter the moment Noire was out of sight.

"So, your sister can't read?" he asked.

"...it's complicated," Kjelle answered.

"Ah, guess I shouldn't ask," Inigo noted. 

"Yeah. You do need to learn when to shut up."

"How mean!" he said with a laugh.

"I didn't tell you _to_  shut up," Kjelle told him. "I told you that you need to know _when_  to shut up. Now is not that time."

"So you enjoy my company and conversation that much? I'm honoured, Kjelle, but you're dating my best friend, and—"

"Inigo, shut up."

Inigo laughed. Kjelle rolled her eyes, before realizing something.

"Since when do you work here?"

"I don't," he answered simply.

"Then why are you...?"

"Now, I think that this is one of those times I need to shut up," Inigo said mischievously.

"INIGO!"


End file.
